I AM BORN - AGAIN

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Thirty-seven years ago "today," at 9:00 p.m., I was born again and began to trust Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour. The calendar date was actually June 7th, but I have always thought of the first Friday of June as the day.

A co-worker, who was a Christian, and I had had a few conversations about Jesus. She brought a couple of books for me to read (The Late-Great Planet Earth, and In His Steps), and even loaned me her New American Standard Bible, with the provision that I return it to her on Friday so that she would have it for church that Sunday.

I thank the Lord for Dave and Margie Dalmas, and for the members of the womens' prayer group at a Presbyterian church in the city of Orange, California.

I don't know where Dave and Margie are now. Apparently, they have moved since I last contacted them. At that time, they lived in Anaheim. I never met anyone from the womens' prayer group, but unbeknown to me, they had been praying for me for some time, Margie giving them weekly reports on how things were going.

God bless every one who prays for the salvation of people and who share the Gospel.

  

Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.

Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him.
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Textbooks Used in Seminary Evangelism Course

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These books are required reading for Introduction to Evangelism* at Reformed Theological Seminary, Jackson Mississippi.

Tell the Truth: The Whole Gospel to the Whole Person by Whole People
by Will Metzger

A Faith Worth Sharing
by C. John "Jack" Miller

Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God
by J.I. Packer

Creation Regained : Biblical Basics for a Reformational Worldview
by Albert Wolters



Selections from the following books are also required reading:

The Heart of Evangelism. by Jerram Barrs

Becoming a Contagious Christian. by Bill Hybels and Mark Mittelberg

The Reason for God : Belief  in an age of Skepticism. by Timothy Keller

Evangelism Explosion (4th Edition) by D. James Kennedy


* (This information is from the course syllabus for the Fall, 2009 semester.)


Students were also strongly encouraged to include one chapter each day from the book of Acts in their devotional reading. A thorough familiarity with The Westminster Confession of Faith was also stressed. I noticed that the recommended reading for R.T.S.'s Atlanta campus included, God Centred Evangelism by R.B. Kuiper and Ray Comfort's Hell's Best Kept Secret.

In addition to the books, a number of articles are included in the required reading. Two titles especially caught my eye. One was "Why Evangelicals Don't Read Pilgrim's Progress (and Why they Should)"; the other was "The Unconverted Calvin." 

Craig

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THE SECRET OF ALL EFFECTUAL WITNESSING

Part 2 of James Montgomery Boice on Personal Evangelism

If we spend time with Jesus, then the other matters -- knowing we are not the light, pointing to the light, desiring men and women to believe -- these will come naturally. And we will find ourselves increasingly used of God as He sends revival to our land.

(Continued...)
Andrew put himself second in order to bring others to Jesus. We do not know a great deal about Andrew. In the New Testament he is usually introduced as Simon Peter's brother. ... Yet, Andrew was constantly introducing others to Jesus. There are only three stories in the Gospels in which Andrew plays a significant role. There is the story recorded here [in John 1:40-42]. There was the time he brought Jesus the lad with five loaves of bread and two fish (John 6:8-9). There is the incident in which the Greeks were brought to Jesus (John 12:22). In each case Andrew put himself second in order to introduce others to the Savior.

How are we to become charged, as Andrew was? Andrew and the other disciples became witnesses after they had first spent time with Jesus. John tells us that the place where Jesus was staying at about the tenth hour - that is, about about four o'clock in the afternoon - and that they spent the night there. What do you suppose they talked about until nightfall? We are not told, but the story reminds us of the story in Luke in which Christ spoke to the Emmaus disciples, showing them from the Old Testament how it was necessary for Him "to suffer these things and then enter His glory," after which they confessed, "Were not our hearts burning within us while He talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?" (Luke 24:26, 32). After such time spent with Jesus, when the heart burns, one is constrained to go out and find his brother.

Do you spend time with Jesus? Nothing can be a substitute for that. Only if you do that will you begin to show something of the character, particularly the love, of Him with whom you are spending time.


(emphasis added)

James Montgomery Boice: Three Points on Personal Evangelism

“In the first chapter of John’s gospel we have an outline of what our witness must be if we are to become ’informal missionaries.’ The outline is given to us in verses 6-9: ‘There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.’ If we outline these verses, we find that they contain three statements about John the Baptist’s testimony: 1) he was not the light, but 2) was sent to bear witness to that light, in order that 3) all men through him might believe.”

“…I believe that if only these three points are followed, the witness of any Christian, no matter how halting or weak it may be, will be effective. First, the believer must recognize in the depths of his being that he is not the answer to men’s problems, that he is not the light. Second, he must know that Jesus is the light and must point men to Him. Third, he must do it all with the express intention of having men and women believe.”

[1] “If we are to witness for Jesus Christ, we must first of all forget ourselves… and we must think first of the other person and of his need for the Savior. What is it that will make a person forget himself in order to point to Jesus? Only an awareness of Jesus’ worth and glory!”

[2] “We must know something about Him. We must have a message. The major parts suggested in our story …are: a) who Jesus Christ is, and b) what He has done. … (a) “I have seen, and I testify that this is the Son of God.” (John 1:34) (b) The focus of Christ’s work is to be found in His death on the cross. Hence, we want to share the meaning of His death when we try to tell others about Him.”

[3] “John bore witness to Jesus, not to unload a certain amount of information…but to lead others to believe in Jesus personally. This means that he had their life and destiny in view when he was witnessing.”

“The [three-point] witness-giving of John was immediately picked up by those who believed, so that Andrew and Phillip, an unnamed disciple (probably John the evangelist), Peter and Nathaniel became the next witnesses. [And] they followed the same pattern of witnessing that John the Baptist had followed. That is:

1) They did not attract attention to themselves,

2) They bore a verbal witness to Jesus, and

3) They did so in order that those to whom they were speaking might also believe in Him.”

NEXT:  James M. Boice on: The Secret of All Effectual Witnessing!

 
Excerpts from an article by Dr. Boice titled, "Witnessing: The Progress of Revival" in Reformation and Revival - a Quarterly Journal for Church Leadership. Vol.2, Number 3 - Summer 1993